Corona Presbyterian Church
Sunday morning worship • 9:30 am

Pastoral Letters

What's New in the New Year?

January 2, 2023

Dear CPC Family,

Happy New Year!

I love to look back with thanksgiving to God for the past year and to look forward with hope in him for the year ahead. May the Lord, this year, “teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”(Psalm 90:12)

Looking Back with Gratitude


Most of this letter looks ahead to the new year for Corona Presbyterian Church. But we need to start by looking back to rejoice in God’s amazing provision. CPC’s December giving is still being tallied but, with gratitude to the Lord, I am happy to report that we reached our budgeted giving goal! Thank you for your generosity and commitment to the mission of this church. We prayed for a strong finish and the Lord answered our prayer!

Looking Ahead with Hope

A strong finish to 2023 means a strong start to 2024. So what is new in 2024? Here’s our mission: we are committed to Proclaiming Christ, Growing in Grace, and Abiding in Him. That mission is not new. Some of the ways that we pursue this mission, however, will be new. Here are a few:

  • More Scripture: We aim to be biblical in all that we do as a church, but our prayer in 2024 is that our love for God’s Word would multiply (Acts 12:24). This will take shape in sermons, Bible studies, and other ways that we engage with the Word. But here’s one concrete idea. Our sermon passage for this coming Lord’s Day, the first in the New Year, is Psalm 67. I hope it will be CPC’s “theme psalm” for 2024. Let’s memorize Psalm 67 together this year!

  • More Prayer: Beginning this Sunday, all are invited to pray in the classroom at CPC before every worship service. For morning worship, we’ll pray from 9:00am to 9:10am. For evening worship, we’ll pray from 4:30pm to 4:40pm. We will pray for our worship service but also for any other needs of which we are aware. All are welcome!

  • More Outreach: More to come on this soon but let me share our first major outreach effort. The session selected Sunday, March 31 (Easter Sunday) as a special invitation Sunday. According to outreach expert Thom Rainer, around 80% of people are likely to respond affirmatively to an invitation to church from a friend or acquaintance. Yet only 2% of church members invite someone to church each year. That’s low-hanging gospel fruit! Begin praying right now about who you might invite to CPC on Easter Sunday. Let me know the first names of those who you plan to invite and the session will join you in prayer. Again, there’s more to come, but let’s start thinking and praying now.

  • More Fellowship: We’ve seen in Acts 2:46-47 that the early church excelled in fellowship and hospitality. Our prayer is for CPC to grow in these areas in 2024. Are you able to host a church-wide event this year? Or are you able to welcome a smaller group to your home on a regular basis in 2024? If so, please let me know. Plans and goals for CPC fellowship opportunities are coming together … but willing hosts can make those plans a reality!

Let’s prayerfully seize the momentum of a fresh new year and watch for how the Lord uses us for His glory in the next 12 months.

Let your work be shown to your servants,
    and your glorious power to their children.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
    and establish the work of our hands upon us;
    yes, establish the work of our hands! (Psalm 90:16-17)

In the Father’s Love,


Pastor Andrew

Rebekah Canavan